


Survivor's Guide to Mobius

by Korva_Chthonic



Category: Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: Cute Chao warning, F/M, Gen, Mixture of canons, Self-Insert
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-28
Updated: 2019-12-28
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:34:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,115
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21998359
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Korva_Chthonic/pseuds/Korva_Chthonic
Summary: A person and a bobcat are caught in a spacial rift together, resulting in a confused and stranded fusion on the two. This leads to many weird and wonderful moments exploring the new world, along with many, many cultural misunderstandings."Why are you getting so red? It's not like you really need clothes...""It's the principle of the thing! Just gimme back my stuff!"
Comments: 4
Kudos: 18





	Survivor's Guide to Mobius

She grunted, sweat running down her brow as her hands grabbed at trunks and her hiking stick, hauling her form further up the trail. This particular one had unexpectedly gone sharply upwards after a mile, but after a good deal of huffing and puffing, leveled off. From now on, she decided, still panting for air, she would actually look up reviews on the trail she was hiking.

It was nice not being stuck either in her apartment or in class anymore, though. The winter semester had ended along with her finals, and so Moxie was free for the summer! Hiking was a far cry better than heaps of homework.

And yes, Moxie wasn't her actual name, but she hated the real one. At least this way, she could definitively tell her friends they had moxie! Heh.

Deciding to take a brief break, she sat on a nearby log and broke out her lunch. Tuna fish wasn't really considered a hiking food, but Moxie begged to differ. It was quick to make, quick to finish off, and it tasted good.

And apparently, this sentiment was also shared by a bobcat that had slunk close to her while Moxie was distracted. She spotted it out of the corner of her eye and violently lurched back, shrieking. The sandwich was still clutched in a death grip, and the bobcat's hungry gaze followed the piece of food.

"O-oh, hi there," Moxie stuttered slightly, before following the cat's line of site to her sandwich. She smiled a little before breaking a piece off and placing it on the log. "Go on."

Sniffing cautiously, the young bobcat tiptoed closer, quickly snatching away the morsel, which it then proceeded to munch. Her smile grew larger, but carefully stayed away.

Suddenly, the bobcat snapped its head up, finished, and launched itself at the rest of her sandwich. She dropped it with another surprised yell, toppling backwards off the log. The food was snapped up into the wildcat's jaws, sprinting away into the forest without a second thought.

* * *

"Oooooh…" Moxie groaned, stomach rumbling. She collapsed next to her fishing pole, staring forlornly at the still line. "Still no bites?"

It was late into the afternoon now, and she was more thankful than ever that this was both a fishing and a hiking trip. At the very least, she could catch something to eat. Well, assuming she could catch something. Seems the fish weren't in the mood to die today.

As if on cue, finally the fishing line jerked at the pole in her hand. Moxie bolted upright, a giddy grin forming. Determinedly, she began pulling and reeling in whatever she caught.

The line retreated into the pole, revealing the prisoner on the hook. It looked to be a nice big rainbow trout that wiggled helplessly before Moxie, and her mouth was already watering as ideas flew through her head. Roasted fish, charbroiled fish, fish something…her eyes formed stars.

Of course, that's when felt the burning gaze in her back she hadn't realized was there sharpen into lasers. A yowl sounded behind Moxie, and dread deepened in the pit of her stomach.

It was the same bobcat from earlier. It had to have been stalking after her the whole time, just waiting for her to do the dirty work for it. That stupid, no good wildcat had the audacity to steal her food. Again!

The trout had finally gone limp on the hook. Moxie narrowed her eyes at the arrogant bobcat, which seemed like it was waiting for her to throw it the hunk of meat..

"Screw you!" She screamed instead, drawing the fish protectively against her chest. "I'm not giving up any more food!"

The bobcat took the opportunity to lunge for the meat, with or without her permission, it seemed. Moxie shrieked, rolled away, and ran in the other direction, fish held high over her head like a trophy as she attempted to sprint away from the predator on her metaphorical tail.

Of course, humans are built for endurance, not brief bursts of speed, so the bobcat simply sped up and pounced on the woman. The fish was sent rolling away from her outstretched arms.

But then things got weird.

A pulse of energy rippled through the air, distorting the scenery around Moxie and the bobcat with a white light, and then things abruptly twisted- _and oh **HEAVENS** THE PAIN, bones breaking and twisting and molecules ripping **THEMSELVES** apart, fusing and realigning in a new configuration, her MIND screaming out in agony as it is **spliced and pulled apart** and mended anew, the energies infusing **something** to her-_

**And**

**She**

**Falls.**

She had a brief look at the ground before she face planted into unconsciousness.

* * *

Far away, a dented, slightly rusted object lay in a forested area. Plants curled over metallic limbs and a head, which possessed a cracked screen in place of eyes. A wave of energy rushed over it, exciting the neglected inner machinery into action.

Red LEDs flickered to life.

* * *

There was something gritty between her teeth. The taste of dirt and sand met her tongue almost immediately after, and a groggy Moxie's eyes bulged dangerously. She weakly turned her head to the side, violently spitting out the offending debris.

Wiping at her mouth and sending a glare towards the ground as she got to her feet, she realized several things in quick succession. First, she wasn't in the forest anymore, the scenery swapped for a sparsely planted desert instead, similar to something you might find in southern Utah.

Second, the hand she wiped her face with was carpeted in a layer of short, cornflower blue fur, which was dotted with black spots at random intervals. The inside was replaced with a soft skin that padded her palm and fingers, and said digits ended in small claws.

Looking down at the rest of her body (was it even her body anymore?), it was covered in the same fur tone as her arm, with white patches on other places like her stomach. Above that, her shrunken breasts hung limp. A short, black tipped tail was the biggest attention grabber next to the little teeny fact that her clothes were shredded, leaving nothing on her but scraps of fabric.

Thirdly, her senses were oddly sharp, her nose picking up several different scents in the local area. The dusty smell of the earth, weirdly familiar smells that she whiffed as the wind passed, and other things. Her ears pricked at the sound of rustling leaves, grasses, and chirping insects, and it was all different.

A tight scream was building up in her chest, threatening to let loose as Moxie clutched her private areas in a completely ineffective way of covering up. Her breaths picked up, things flashing back to that moment of painlightsagony that had undoubtedly made her into what could only be a bipedal, blue bobcat. She shoved the anxiety down into a box before it could spike, kicking it to the curb for now.

So instead of bursting into tears on the spot, she channeled her emotional whirlwind into righteous anger that flickered and flamed into a roaring bonfire of indignation.

"DID SOMEONE JUST FREAKING ISEKAI ME WITHOUT PERMISSION?!" She finally screamed to the sky.

* * *

The desert was a harsh, unforgiving place to end up in, what with the bazillion things that could kill you. Thankfully, so far, Moxie had yet to encounter anything that wasn't half dead sagebrush and grasses or the annoying skittering of tiny bugs. At least if there were cacti, she could probably crush it for some water, but alas, no luck.

She was really glad she'd avoided wasting any on tears, because oh boy did she need it.

It was going on the third hour of her search, her feet hurt, and the sun was high in the sky, making things feel ten billion degrees hotter. As the former human took a break, she realized something.

Weirdly, she was actually sweating and cooling off as she journeyed through the desert. She'd read somewhere that cats and other animals couldn't do that as efficiently, due to fur thickness and reliance on other methods, like panting.

Her own fur seemed thinner than the typical cat, leaving enough room for the evaporating sweat to escape and actually cool herself. The exception was the hair on her head- and it was hair, for the given fact that it was both longer and thicker than her fur- so this left her with a hot, sweaty scalp, with hair clinging to each other in clumps and making her uncomfortable.

"On the bright side, at least some things are still the same!" She croaked out, a slight smile playing across her lips before vanishing into a hardening gaze. "But enough of that. I have to find water and something to eat, but water is more important right now."

Moxie's eyes narrowed as they scanned the distance again against the glare of the sunlight, but internally groaned as, yet again, there was nothing to be seen. But then...a whiff of something passed by her nose, and seemingly on instinct, her jaws parted to...smell it better?

Something on the roof of her mouth caught the scent, which enhanced the smell into something more distinctive. That smelled like…something slightly earthy, and humid. Water?

She turned, letting the instinct do its work as her nose tracked the scent, making sure to stay upwind so she wouldn't lose it. The process was familiar and almost automatic, as though it had been done by her before in the past. Automatically, Moxie's legs began moving.

 _This is so weird_ , the bobcat mentally remarked, uneasy. _Was it not just some weird fusion between our bodies, but minds in some way, too? Some chaotic mess that somehow, I haven't noticed at all?_

So maybe she wasn't even the same person anymore? Moxie thought she felt the same, at least. Still the same goofy, anxious adult as she'd always been, with a bad habit of ignoring her problems in some way until it inevitably kicked her in the teeth.

The thought of something intrinsic to herself being twisted without her knowing was...unnerving. The whole situation with her own body morphing was bad enough, but to have your own self violated on the mental level? Did that count as mindrape-?

She abruptly slammed on the brakes of that particular thought, anxiety swirling heavily in her gut and small tail lashing. _Nope nope nope. Not thinking about that. Focus on the water you need. Heavens, please let me find it_!

* * *

Moxie's throbbing feet crunched the vegetation beneath them, and with every step, the scent trail she was following intensified ever so slightly. The scenery changed into something more forested, with sparse trees increasing in frequency the further she traveled. The shade giving protection from the blistering sun was a bonus. Here and there, small animals would scurry about, birds would fly, and the bobcat would march forwards.

The minutes whiled away into hours, the sun beginning to set as she traveled. Her stomach threatening to eat itself and her earlier anxiety still in play made her mind feel like it was slowly going insane.

What if she couldn't find any water? What if...she died like this, out here in the wilderness, and no one missed her, no one cared- Her breath shuddered lightly, rubbing at her shivering form as the cold began to set in.

A slight tingle passed over Moxie's skin, making the fur suddenly stand on end. The chills were abated, replaced with a pleasant warming, and she let out a startled, shaky laugh. "S-so goosebumps actually do something, after all!"

The humidity in the scent finally spiked, and there it was. A small stream that cut through the dusky woodland she now found herself in. The young woman gasped, stumbling over with numb feet and practically plunging her face into the running waters.

Minerals and the light taste of dirt pressed against her tongue, and it was cool and refreshing and she drank until her thirst was sated. Moxie jerked her head back out with a gasp, tears coming to her eyes and nearly sobbing with relief.

"Oh, thank thee, Lord, for this bountiful water, and for the blessings of this form I now have that helped me to find it," she whispered in slight prayer. Prayer hadn't been something she had done for much other than her daily ones, but now she just had to express her thanks to someone, somehow.

Moxie shook off the thoughts, turning instead to the darkening sky. The sunset was partially obscured by the treetops, but what she could see was beautiful in the pinks and reds that streaked across it. It would get colder soon, but she probably didn't have to worry about that thanks to her fur coat.

What did need to be taken care of, however, was her gnawing hunger. It was like a wild animal, growling and raking at her body fiercely, but eased slightly thanks to the water.

The dying light didn't really matter in the long run though, since cats had really good night vision, right? And sure enough, the wildcat could still see well, even in the low illumination. Moxie could make out flickers of movement under the surface of the stream, and the instinct overrode her actions again.

She knelt at the edge of the bank, one hand outstretched and eyes silently watching for movement, but froze when she saw her face.

It was one thing to know that you'd changed, but it was another to actually see yourself. Her head was large in comparison to her body, like a toddler heaving around a bowling ball for a head. She had a white muzzle, dainty black nose, and the most humanlike eyes Moxie had ever seen on something obviously not human. White sclera framed tiny green irises, and the eyes were in turn framed by bands of white traveling around thick eyelashes. Black markings marred the cornflower fur, spreading out from a central diamond shape in the center of her forehead.

Her ears flattened, staring, but then jolted as the image was disturbed by another movement from the fish below the water. Her palm automatically shot into the pool, scooping up the animal and bringing it to sharp teeth that bit down, flooding her mouth with warm blood-

Which Moxie almost immediately spat out, coughing and sputtering. "Gah! Wh-what am I doing? I need to cook this first!"

But then again...did she know enough about outdoor survival to make a fire without matches? She remembered something about a bow and stick method, but that was it. Reluctantly, she picked the sluggishly bleeding fish back into her padded palms, red staining the fur.

"I can eat raw meat...right?" She muttered slowly. "Cats do it all the time. And it'll be just like eating sushi. Without any rice or anything else."

Moxie brought it back up to her face, eyeing it warily before biting into the fish. The scales parted under her sharp teeth, sweet juices pouring out, and before she knew it, all the meat was being devoured.

Everything went down her gullet: muscles, innards, everything, until finally she was licking at the bones. Then the bones cracked under Moxie's jaws, slurping out the bone marrow until it was all empty.

And somehow it all tasted delicious, despite her earlier misgivings about eating something raw.

And so she curled up beneath a tree for the night on a bed of softer, recently fallen leaves, with a full belly and the moon rising overhead and the stars gazing down at her.

* * *

It had been nearly a week since fate had dumped Moxie into this wilderness, and to be honest, she was actually having less trouble surviving than she'd thought. The instincts she'd inherited from the fusion had given the former human an edge in her days hunting. Although, really, she'd never really get over her mortification at eating small, cute squirrels or the occasional rabbit.

Since keeping water close by was always a good idea, and streams tended to lead to bigger rivers, which in turn normally lead to people, Moxie figured she'd try her luck following it upstream towards civilization.

And so on a particularly cloudy day, with her sore feet and dismal thoughts making her mood even stormier than before, Moxie jolted at an unfamiliar scent brushing by her nose. The smell was weird, with hints of forest vegetation, ozone and metal.

She was tired, bored, and needed a break. So honestly, the distraction was welcome. Her tail twitched with piqued curiosity as the new trail was followed, but made sure not to forget where it was leading in relation to the stream.

It headed deep into the forest for a good fifteen minute walk, and then opened up into a small grove saturated with the new scent. Little blue figures moved about within, occasionally taking flight and letting out childish cries.

She was frozen to the spot, emerald eyes pinpricks as a long buried memory stirred inside her brain. Moxie knew what these alien wannabees were, but from where? One of the blue, turnip-headed beings toddled towards her, a floating yellow ball stop its head forming into a little question mark.

"Uhn?" Squeaked the thing before her, confusion clear in its tiny black eyes.

One of Moxie's eyes twitched violently. Her ears flattened with a mixture of anger and anxiety that warred inside her for dominance. The memory flashed to life, with bits and pieces coming back to her.

_"Nooo! You gotta give those chaos drives to my Chao! If you don't, Billy won't be a big strong powerhouse when he grows up, Molly!"_

_"Nu-uh! You can just get more. It's my turn to play Sonic right now, and I say that they go to Lily so she can be an awesome swimmer!"_

_"But I wanna play!"_

_"Wait your turn, Caleb!"_

Oh. Oh frick. This was not good. Not by a long shot.

So she wasn't just a freak mutated by random happenstance, but apparently she was a freak that looked exactly like all the other sapient, humanoid animals on this planet. A planet, which may or may not be named Mobius or Earth, that also had a genius human terrorist running around practically unchecked, seven super powerful McGuffins that had the potential to blow apart said planet, and adorable little Chao that were just adorable.

And so with this realization, Molly "Moxie" Benford fell to her knees, clutched a confused Chao to her chest, and let out all her bottled up anxiety in a breakdown of epic proportions.


End file.
